Vanessa Abrahamson Blog: A look at the string of threats against school principals in Denver

Monday, October 24, 2022

A look at the string of threats against school principals in Denver

In Littleton, Jefferson County and elsewhere, districts have issued threats in recent weeks, although a threat in Cherry Creek was deemed not credible.

GREENWOOD VILLAGE, Colo. – A bomb threat that switched a Cherry Creek Schools school board meeting from an in-person to a virtual Monday night was found not credible by an investigation by the Greenwood Village Police Department.

Greenwood Village Commandant Joe Gutgsell confirmed to 9NEWS on Tuesday afternoon that a post on Facebook by a man named Don Laconte contained a bomb emoji and asked for directions to the meeting, which was reported to Safe2Tell, an anonymous facility for Coloradans to report guilt threats. But after an interview with Laconte, it was determined that the post was not intended as a threat. Laconte has used similar emojis in comments on other pages of conservative school district critics, responding to posts about Black Lives Matter, vaccines and distance learning.

Cherry Creek’s decision to move the meeting online was the latest example of extreme measures taken by a school district to respond to an increased number of perceived threats. The move comes a week after a similar threat against JeffCo Public Schools, which also shut down a meeting.

TIED TOGETHER: Cherry Creek school board meeting practically held over threat

TIED TOGETHER: Threat about masks called Jeffco’s superintendent’s office

In late January, a man was charged by Littleton Police for making a threatening phone call to that borough’s superintendent. In response to the district running a student immunization clinic, the caller left a voicemail for Superintendent Brian Ewart.

“I’ve heard you like to inject children with garbage and poison without their parental consent,” the caller said on voicemail, according to a Littleton police report. “I’ve got a syringe full of anthrax to inject you with… You’ll shake and you won’t breathe, you’ll die from being injected.”

According to the report, Littleton police went to Byron Clayton’s home and questioned his mother. She told investigators that Clayton, 48, held very conservative and anti-vaccination views and followed the QAnon conspiracy theory.

When investigators spoke to Clayton at work, he initially denied making the call, but then told them he made the call to vent. He was issued a subpoena for harassment.

“We’ve got this tribal war going on where everyone is choosing sides,” said John Nicoletti, a police psychologist who analyzes threats.

“The person who made the threat in Jeffco probably feels that public health prompted them to change it. Now he feels empowered. And then other people see that.”

Nicoletti said that every time a threat succeeds, either by stopping a policy or causing chaos for executives who need to postpone a meeting, more threats can emerge.

But he said the school’s safety officers didn’t want to, and shouldn’t, take any chances.

“It hurts to give in, but it also hurts not to give in and have what’s called a false negative where you’re like, ‘Oh, someone’s just saying that, and then something bad happens.’ So you have to live with both directions,” said Nicoletti.

TIED TOGETHER: After entering primary school under “false pretexts,” the man was verbally abused, says the principal

TIED TOGETHER: Safe2Tell saw a 35% drop in tips in January

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